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Floyd Lawton (New Earth)
His father George Lawton made money in real estate, and his mother Genevieve Pitt belonged to a family of wealthy bankers. His brother Edward Lawton was a golden child, described as the opposite of Floyd. Both parents doted on Edward while treating Floyd poorly, but Floyd still grew up idolizing his older brother. George was unfaithful and cruel to Genevieve, so she asked her sons to kill their father. Eddie locked Floyd in the boathouse when Floyd tried to warn his father. Floyd broke out and grabbed his hunting rifle. Eddie had already shot their father in the second-floor library, paralyzing George for life, and was preparing to kill him. Floyd climbed a tree and aimed to disarm his brother, but a branch snapped and he shot Eddie between the eyes. He killed the brother he loved to save the father he hated. This incident was covered up to avoid dishonoring the family name. George denied Genevieve a divorce and forced her to live alone on a small stipend. Some time after that, Lawton sought the training of the professional assassin David Cain, who instructed Lawton and taught him his marksmanship abilities. The Man Who Replaced Batman Floyd Lawton moved to Gotham City where he started living as a millionaire playboy. Wearing a domino mask, top hat, and tuxedo, he became the gun-toting vigilante Deadshot. Deadshot worked closely with Commissioner Gordon during Batman's absence. He became popular enough that they build a "Deadshot Signal" to replace the Bat-Signal. Batman investigated Deadshot and found that he was in cahoots with criminals to distract police from more serious crimes. During the final confrontation, Deadshot is unable to kill Batman as the Dark Knight had tampered his weapons. Like this, Lawton was arrested and sent to prison. Strange Apparitions Years later, Deadshot broke out of prison after becoming a hardened convict, who no longer cared about hurting innocent bystanders. He blamed Batman for ruining his life and tried to kill him using a new red suit with wrist-mounted guns. Their battle took them to a convention hall where Batman defeated Deadshot on top of a Giant Typewriter. A short time later, Rupert Thorne broke Deadshot out of prison and hired him to assassinate Bruce Wayne, who he believed was Batman. The Human Target was hired to pose as Bruce Wayne while Batman fought Deadshot. When Deadshot saw them together, he tried to kill both of them, but the Human Target took him down. This proved to Thorne and a suspicious Vicki Vale that Bruce was not Batman. Later, Batman visited Deadshot in prison for information on Thorne and broke him out when he learned the corrupt warden wanted them both dead. Deadshot was held prisoner in the Batcave, blindfolded so he does not know its location. Much later, Deadshot was hired to kill Julia Remarque as part of a plot with Syrian terrorists. Deadshot and the whole terrorist organization was defeated by Batman with help from Julia and Alfred Pennyworth. Deadshot is seen as a member of the super-villain army during the Crisis on Infinite Earths, where he is defeated by the Creeper. Batman later receives a note that says "Know your foes," so he uses the Batcomputer to educate Jason Todd on many villains including Deadshot. Ra's al Ghul releases every super-villain in Gotham's prison and Arkham Asylum on Batman's first anniversary. Deadshot helps the Joker take over GCPD Headquarters, but Batman stops them and Talia al Ghul takes down Deadshot. Legends Deadshot is arrested by The Flash while pulling a robbery in Manhattan. Amanda Waller sends Bronze Tiger and Rick Flag to visit him in Riker's Island, offering him a pardon if he will come to work with Task Force X. Deadshot is placed as a member of the new Suicide Squad, and he kills their target Brimstone at Mount Rushmore with an experimental laser rifle. He does not leave when the others are released after this mission. Waller asks Deadshot to assassinate Captain Boomerang when Boomerang threatens to reveal the Suicide Squad to the public. Rick Flag knocks Deadshot's rifle out of the way, and has Enchantress solve the problem non-lethally. Suicide Squad Deadshot decides to stay with the Suicide Squad for personal reasons, living out of Belle Reve prison in Louisiana. His psychologist Marnie Herrs suggests that he joined the team because of a personal death wish. Their next mission is attacking the Jihad in Qurac. Deadshot is supposed to neutralize Manticore, and he kills Manticore by shooting him in the face point blank. When Belle Reve is attacked by the Female Furies, Deadshot refuses to help and says that security was not part of his deal. He impersonates the racist vigilante William Hell to discredit him at a white power rally. They are later sent to arrest Firestorm. Deadshot is not allowed to kill, but he nearly murders Blue Beetle out of anger before Rick Flag knocks him unconscious. His ability to speak Russian is useful when they are sent to kidnap Zoya Trigorin in Moscow. Enchantress goes on a rampage, and he is forced to take her down with a non-lethal shot. This leads to a shootout with the Russian army. In their battle against the People's Heroes, Deadshot fights Molotov using random projectiles because he does not have a gun. Enchantress tries to kill the defenseless Deadshot in revenge, but Boomerang knocks her out. In one of their therapy sessions, Deadshot accuses Marnie Herrs of not caring about her patients and she slaps him in the face. He kisses her, then leaves and tells her it did not happen. Warden Economos sends the Squad to kill Manhunters during Millennium. They battle androids in the swamp until Boomerang and Deadshot are both out of ammo, but they manage to survive the encounter. The Squad does not receive credit for this victory. Deadshot has to fight his oldest enemy when Batman infiltrates Belle Reve. Batman is able to knock Deadshot out, but later says that he knows Deadshot is pulling his shots for Waller. Rick Flag disobeys Waller and takes the Suicide Squad to rescue Nemesis in Moscow. Waller angrily has Justice League International sent to stop them. Batman tells Deadshot not to waste his time by pulling shots again, and Deadshot angrily relents. Mister Miracle tries to fight Deadshot, but Deadshot wins and holds him at gunpoint. The teams stop fighting, and Bronze Tiger has to hit Deadshot to stop him from executing Mister Miracle. His gun goes off, but nobody is sure if this was intentional. In his next therapy session with Marnie Herrs, Deadshot reveals that he has an ex-wife and son. He decides to stop seeing Marnie for therapy because of the sexual tension between them. Nightshade takes everyone to a mission in the Land of the Nightshades, and they are captured by Incubus. Incubus is bonded to Nightshade's brother Larry Eden, so Deadshot ends the fight by shooting Larry in the head. They are next trapped in the Zero Zone, and Deadshot fights Zone creatures until Shade, the Changing Man helps them get home. The Jihad returns and Deadshot is sent to neutralize their speedster Jaculi, so he shoots her in the kneecap. Jaculi tells him to kill her or she will come back for him, and Deadshot replies "I believe you" then kills her. Beginnings Deadshot begins taking more suicide missions, and he eliminates the last member of the gang he used to run with. He is sent undercover to kill a crimelord named El Jefe, and he slaughters a plane full of gangsters then falls out as it crashes. Black Orchid rescues him. His ex-wife Susan Lawton asks him for help, and Deadshot decides to take a leave of absence from the Suicide Squad. Marnie Herrs takes a leave of absence to follow him for answers about his past. Susan tells Deadshot that their son Edward was kidnapped. Deadshot tracks down his old associates, who are holding his son until he completes an old contract. He refuses to negotiate, and tortures these men to get the location of his son. Deadshot goes on a rampage killing everyone involved with the kidnapping of his son, including the expert sniper Pantha. Edward is trusted to a pedophile named Wes Anselm, who rapes him and accidentally kills him. Deadshot arrives too late and executes Anselm. This leads him to the real mastermind, his mother Genevieve Pitt. Deadshot's mother wanted him to kill his father George Lawton, completing the "contract" that lead to the death of Deadshot's brother. Marnie Herrs convinces Deadshot not to kill his mother, and instead, he cripples her the same way his father is crippled. In the aftermath, Marnie encourages Floyd to come back to therapy, but Floyd insists there is no cure for what he is. .]] Final Round The Suicide Squad was blackmailed by Derek Tolliver and Senator Cray, so Rick Flag decided to assassinate both of them. Flag was unaware that Amanda Waller had already dealt with this situation privately. Waller realized what he was planning, and sent the entire Suicide Squad to stop Rick Flag from killing Senator Cray "by whatever means necessary." Simon LaGrieve insisted that Deadshot was not mentally fit to go on this mission after the death of his son, but Waller ignored him. Deadshot finds Rick Flag at the Lincoln Memorial, where Flag is holding Cray at gunpoint. He stops Rick Flag by killing the senator himself, following his orders to the letter. Then he whispers to himself "Ed. I killed the old man this time. Did just like ma told me." The police arrive and Flag tries to take Deadshot away. Deadshot, with tears streaming down his face, says that he will take care of the police and threatens to shoot Flag if he does not run. There is a shootout on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, and Deadshot is hit with many bullets, but he manages to survive. In the hospital later, Waller is furious that Deadshot killed Cray, and Deadshot replies that her orders should have been more clear. Waller later has stress hallucinations about sending Deadshot on a mission in his unstable condition. The Phoenix Gambit Lawton's uniform was stolen by an airport employee, who used it to commit many crimes and murders. Lawton was forced to kill the man with a bullet to the head. The shooting of his own "image" affected him greatly. For a while, he did not even fix the hole in his own uniform. While the suit had been lost, Lawton had threatened to kill his teammate Captain Boomerang, who he felt had been responsible due to drinking and missing their plane. Some time before his last mission for the Suicide Squad, Count Vertigo asked him if he would kill him if asked (Vertigo, as a practicing Catholic, saw suicide as a cardinal sin). Deadshot agreed to consider it and reminded Vertigo with some regularity. After their final mission on Diabloverde, the two went off to a secluded area for the decision. Vertigo declined, a decision Deadshot accepted with no argument. Suicidal Tendencies Kobra pays Deadshot one million dollars to assassinate Deathstroke and Peacemaker. Deadshot attacks them in Switzerland, but they defeat him and explain that he was Kobra's next target. Peacemaker hires Deadshot for the price of one million and one dollars. He works with them and takes revenge by shooting Kobra, but Kobra survives and Deadshot is captured by Gennifer Deveraux. Kobra tries to brainwash Deadshot, and uses him as bait to capture Deathstroke and Peacemaker. Deadshot breaks free and distracts Kobra while the others escape. He kills Gennifer and they are able to destroy Kobra's base with help from Doctor Light and Katana. Deathstroke is later framed for treason, and Sarge Steel sends Bronze Tiger and Deadshot to bring him in. Deadshot is able to capture Deathstroke by shooting several rounds into his chest while he is distracted by Bronze Tiger. He is later hired again to help Deathstroke find nuclear weapons stockpiled by Crimelord. Deadshot visits Vatican City to assassinate the Pope, but Wonder Woman stops him and takes him into custody. Amanda Waller puts a new Suicide Squad together, to destroy the Silicon Dragons in Hawaii. Deadshot is forced to fight Knockout when he recruits her. They travel to the underwater base of the cartel with Superboy. He battles Stinger, who is supposed to be his equal, but Knockout pulls him away before they can test who is better. Captain Boomerang is revealed to be working for Lady Dragon, so Deadshot tries to kill him. Deadshot shoots Captain Boomerang in both his hands while he is holding onto a ledge. Superboy rescues Boomerang, but Deadshot still crippled his ability to throw. They blow up the facility and escape. Killer Elite The demon Neron releases every villain in Belle Reve, and takes many including Deadshot to Hell. Deadshot is one of the villains to accept Neron's offer, making a literal deal with the devil. He begins working with the assassins Bolt, Chiller, Deadline, and Merlyn as a group called the Killer Elite. They are promised the power to kill their enemies if they spread mayhem for Neron. Each member is told to commit their dream assassination, and Deadshot chooses to blow up a classroom of kindergarten students. He views this as a poetic statement to demonstrate the meaninglessness of life. Obsidian blocks the bullets with his body, and pulls Deadshot into his shadow realm. Obsidian tries to tell Deadshot that they are not so different, and their inner pain comes from the same place. Deadshot continues lashing out violently, so Obsidian knocks him out. The Killer Elite are later seen trying to eliminate the Body Doubles, who they view as competition. Deadshot betrays his team and pretends to get knocked out because he is secretly involved with Carmen Leno. The CIA recruits a new Suicide Squad to hunt down Hawk and Dove, under the authority of Loren Freitag. Deadshot has a stand-off with Hawk's father Colonel Martens, and Dove takes Deadshot down from behind. He gets into a sniper duel with Vigilante, and defeats her, but surrenders himself rather than murder a government agent. Brainwave invites Deadshot to become a member of the new Secret Society of Super-Villains. This is revealed to be a sting operation by the JLA, and every member is arrested. Deadshot is seen imprisoned in Belle Reve when the JLA deal with a super-villain riot. Two-Face hires Deadshot to kill Batman, and Deadshot shoots Batman in the back so he falls off a building. Batman hunts Deadshot down, and Deadshot suggests they duel like the old west. Batman is quicker on the draw and he breaks Deadshot's jaw with a batarang. Deadshot returns to Gotham when he is hired to kill the mob boss Lew Moxon. Moxon hires Zeiss as his bodyguard. Batman hunts Deadshot down, but Deadshot shoots the batline and escapes. Moxon is under heavy guard, so Deadshot manipulates Batman to get Moxon into the open. He slaps Moxon's daughter Mallory to the ground, and shoots Moxon in the spine. Moxon is paralyzed from the waist down. Batman arrives and Deadshot is forced to escape before he can finish the kill. He is next seen in the audience at a superhero fight organized by Roulette. The Joker is told he is dying, so he infects an army of super-villains with Joker Venom including Deadshot. The Killer Elite are sent to attack Iron Heights. Deadline, Deadshot, and Merlyn kill a large number of guards until they are driven back by Gregory Wolfe. Deadshot uses the venom to infect his old teammate Captain Boomerang. The Flash takes Deadshot down with a punch to the face. This is the Killer Elite's last mission. General Rock's Suicide Squad Deadshot is recruited by General Rock to become a member of his new Suicide Squad, which is developed in the aftermath of Our Worlds at War. There are several other new members that he works closely with such as Blackstarr, Havana, Killer Frost, Major Disaster, Modem, and Reactron. They operate under the authority of President Luthor. This team was ultimately unsuccessful and they were disbanded. War Games The Penguin hires Deadshot as a bodyguard when every gang leader in Gotham is invited to a summit. This turns into a shootout, and Deadshot kills several men including Junior Galante while Penguin escapes. They meet Orpheus, and Deadshot catches up with his old friend Onyx. Hush and Prometheus subdue Deadshot when they assault the Penguin. Tarantula disarms Deadshot and defeats him in physical combat when she invades the Iceberg Lounge. Deadshot was part of a community of assassins who congregate on the Injustice Gang satellite. He is the one who tells this group that Doctor Light was mind-wiped, while they are hanging out and playing Risk. Deadshot, Merlyn, and Monocle are attacked by the Justice League. Green Lantern traps Deadshot in an energy construct, and Deadshot shoots a ricochet bullet that slices his own neck. This is a ruse to make him drop the construct, and Deadshot blinds the invulnerable hero by shooting him in the face. Despite this clever trick, he is captured by Superman. These villains are prosecuted by Kate Spencer in court, but they avoid prison thanks to Deadshot's government connections. Urban Renewal Deadshot discovered he had a daughter, Zoe, who was being raised in a crime-filled area of Star City by her mother, Michelle Torres. Lawton decided to do right by this daughter and embarked on a lethal war on the local gangs that plague the area. The series ends with Deadshot faking his death, having realized a normal life is not for him, but having mostly cleared up the area and having convinced Green Arrow to patrol it more regularly. Secret Six The Secret Six were banded together by a mysterious, shrouded character named Mockingbird (who was actually Lex Luthor) who offered a major reward for committing to the team and a severe punishment for not accepting membership. Deadshot was offered the reward of ruling North America; his punishment was to be the destruction of the neighborhood of his daughter and her mother. At the end of the mini-series, a stalemate was reached and Deadshot's status remains roughly unchanged from the end of his second mini-series. He remains a part of The Secret Six and was shown having reached a grudging friendship with another member, Catman. His share of the payment for the Six's mercenary work is stated to be sent in its entirety to his daughter and her mother. After the Six disbanded, Knockout commented in passing that he had returned to the Suicide Squad. Salvation Run Deadshot and the Suicide Squad were assigned in rounding up supervillains for removal from Earth to a supposedly peaceful planet known as Cygnus 4019 (or Salvation) as part of Project Salvation. The group has encountered Pied Piper and Trickster several times, and each time failed to capture them. Deadshot made a solo effort to capture them, but the pair again eluded him. Much later, Deadshot (breaking orders from Amanda Waller and Suicide Squad protocol) traced and attacks Piper and Trickster on a train outside of the Rocky Mountains. Given that the supervillains are aware of Project Salvation Deadshot apparently kills The Trickster leaving Pied Piper on his own. In Salvation Run #2 Deadshot and along with Bane were tricked and sent off to the prison planet along with the last batch of criminals. Before being sent to Salvation, Rick Flag Jr. stated to him as the Boom Tube closed that he ca not have people like him on Earth. Deadshot vowed that if he ever returned to Earth, he would take his revenge on Rick. After helping fight off the Parademon invasion he managed to escape with the surviving villains in the teleporter. Unhinged The Secret Six are later reunited with a new lineup including Bane, Catman, Jeanette, Rag Doll, and Scandal. Their first mission is trying to recover a "Get Out of Hell Free" card forged by the demon Neron, which is held by the vigilante Tarantula. This puts them into conflict with the mysterious villain Junior, who sends an army of super-villains to kill them. Tarantula sacrifices herself to kill Junior. Personality In his psychological profile, Marnie Herrs says that Floyd Lawton has strong self-destructive urges. Herrs believes that he is looking for a way to die, and he hopes the Suicide Squad will provide one. Despite this, she says there is another side of him that wants to be well and does not know how. Captain Boomerang asks why he chooses to live in a prison cell, and Deadshot replies that "a bed's a bed." He has described himself as similar to Rick Flag, and states that they are both "lone wolves" who "don't fit in the pack." Herrs asks him about his sexual relationships, and he says that he exclusively visits prostitutes. He prefers sex to be simple like a business transaction, and hates figuring out what women want in relationships. Floyd Lawton has told Marnie Herrs that life means nothing to him. His brother was the only person he ever cared about. He claims to have felt nothing, no guilt or remorse, when he killed his brother. He says the only life anybody really cares about is their own, and he does not even care about that. In his own words, he is "killing time, waiting to die." He tells Marnie that evil is real, and the only way to cure some people is with a bullet to the head. When his son was killed and he murdered the people responsible, he described this as a necessary action to protect his reputation. This was accompanied by an emotional outburst. Marnie Herrs accused him of being unable to admit his feelings because he could not deal with his own anger and grief. | Powers = | Abilities = * : Deadshot is said to "never miss." He once shot an apple off of Captain Boomerang's head with his eyes closed. He is able to intentionally graze the skull of a flying Enchantress when asked to take her down non-lethally. * : It's implied that Deadshot possesses senses far beyond a normal human being. He mentioned off-hand that he could keep track of each beat of a hummingbird's wings and could easily keep track of the movements of Captain Boomerang's son who was moving in short bursts of super-speed. * * * : Floyd Lawton is bilingual. He learned to speak Russian as a youth, and also claims to have been a card-carrying communist. | Strength = | Weaknesses = | Equipment = | Transportation = | Weapons = * Wrist-mounted guns: Deadshot has a wrist-mounted gun on each arm. They fire magnum bullets when he presses a trigger button on his palm. They also contain a grappling hook that allows him to swing across buildings. | Notes = | Trivia = * Floyd Lawton is known to have been friends with William Heller growing up. * Deadshot is lactose intolerant. * Deadshot's wrist-guns are inspired by the real life "Sleeve Guns" manufactured during WWII by the British Army's Station IX. | Recommended = | Links = * }} Category:Secret Six members Category:Salvation Run deportees Category:Secret Six III members